So I was thinking on visiting Taiwan later this year, I'm researching but to be honest apart from Taipei I'm struggling to find anything interesting.
It looks a bit soulless, which it shouldn't, but that's the feeling I'm getting.
For the record I've already been to some other SEA countries (Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar) and to Japan. Those countries seem much more appealing to me.
Maybe I'm just and idiot, but I'd like to know your thoughts and experiences of the country.
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It's heaven on Earth. The island is beautiful. It's the perfect mix of authentic Chinese culture, Japanese colonialism and American globohomo. It's underrated as frick right now, and probably will be for a while to come since every Westerner thinks it's going to get invaded any day now.
I don't know it's just comfy as frick. I love it. People are very laid back. And the girls are cute too.
I'm not going to overplay it like but it's pretty good and probably overlooked compared to places in East/SE Asia (eg: Japan and the tourist trap SE countries).
In terms of cities you won't get much better than Taipei but then again Taipei is something that would be worth a few days on its own at least, plenty to do and see. Outside of that Kaohsiung has some places to see for an overnight stop, Taichung has a pretty good night market in Fenjia and a few sites on its own.
That said it's outside the cities where it shines. Outside of Taichung there's Sun Moon Lake which is a day trip. Down at the south there's Kenting Park and in the east there's Taroko Gorge and its accompanying park. Then to the north (and easily accessible from Taipei) there's Jiufen, Yangmingshan and Yeliu, among other places.
I'd say if you really wanted to delve into it, Taiwan would give you a 2-week break, but you could also easily see a lot in a week. Either way please go to A Cheng Goose it's one of the best meals I've ever had and at a really good price especially for a Bib Gourmand.
Recommendations on a home base / comfy place to live for a couple months?
If you live in Taipei you can make a day trip out of basically anywhere on the island. It's really not that big.
Objectively, it's a good destination because it's probably 85% as nice as Japan but twice as affordable. I can see how if you've spent time in Japan/Korea then many of Taiwan's charms would be dulled. The neomodern kitsch on display everywhere (in Tainan in particular) might fall flat. But it's worth appreciating the island for what it is, not in comparison to somewhere else. Personally, I'm an incurable Sinaboo, and found delights around every corner. I don't think you could call it 'soulless' by any reasonable standard.
What makes it stand out for me is the outdoor opportunities; I've never had my ass kicked so hard by a hike or felt so isolated in pristine nature; hard to believe anywhere in east Asia still has that feeling. Top-tier snorkeling, too.
Honestly you couldn't do better than a comfy neighborhood of Taipei. I also fell in love with a little town called Yuli on the eastern side. Idyllic location with a good cat cafe.
You can rent them in most cities. I think I read in the big western cities they want to see a motorbike endorsement on your IDP but other places no one cares. Driving a scooter up Taroku was probably in my top 3 travel experiences ever.
It's a boring business-oriented country.
North coast, close to decent beaches and with less air pollution than Taipei proper.
It's dangerous as frick. Taiwanese don't respect lanes and drive like shit. A friend of mine wanted to rent a car and drive around, and I dissuaded him; in the first 12 hours he was there we witnessed two serious accidents, both caused by normal incompetent driving on the part of Taiwanese who were too important to need to obey basic rules of the road like staying in your lane while turning and paying attention to traffic around you.
Here now. I come to Taipei every year for 2-3 months.
Currently near Zhongshan Elementary Station. Good hood. Xinyi is nice too.
Pros:
Quiet, walkable, access to nature/hiking via great public transportation, cheap food, cozy culture, most sleeve-tattoo digital nomad trash is priced out of here (see below)
Cons:
Good short-term apartments are overpriced for what you get: I am paying $1700/mo on Airbnb for a 1 bedroom which is decent but not great...previous apartments have been even worse and were more expensive.
Unlike TH or VN or KL, there has been no real estate speculation here so the $25/night bug box skyscrapers all the drone flying losers in Bangkok like to stay in just do not exist here. The city feels a bit old and run down because of this.
Taiwanese food is bland and uninteresting for the most part. Japanese izakayas make up for this, but they are more expensive than the Thai mall garbage most nomads eat.
Tainan is nice if you rent a scooter. Kaohsiung is ok for a few nights, more polluted and gets hot as shit.
Jiufen and Shilin are tourist dumps but Teapot Mt a great hike as is Yangmingshan when weather is nice.
If you are into nature you can easily kill 3 months here like I do every year.
>$1700 USD/month is decent
$56 per day? holy shit, that's absolute ridiculous paypigging just for a place to live.
I get a sinking feeling seeing dorm beds on booking dotcom rent for 1000+ baht per night in Taipei, while here in Thailand I am paying 344 baht per night for a lovely private room. Didn't realize Taiwan was so globocucked with the israelite pricing before I booked the ticket.
Pretty typical of AirBNB. A friend was paying 50K NTD/mo for a shitty fourth-floor walkup near Zhongxiao-Dunhua. He later rented it long-term directly from the landlord and was paying 25K instead. AirBNB basically doubles prices.
Theirs 23 million people stuffed into around 60% of an island that's the about as big as the US state of New Hampshire.
Real-estate is going to be tight.
anybody ride scooters in taiwan? am visiting Taipei, Taichung, Chiayi, Tainan and Kaohsiung. Is it safe to use scooters in those cities? i will have an IDP license
Def need a scooter in Tainan and KS. Boring city otherwise. Taipei you can get by without one.
I'm looking to do a daytrip to Beitoujiao trail , then Jufen and Shifen. Is this feasible in one day? what is the best combination of busses or trains to i take? want to leave from taipei early like 6am
Train to Ruifang room Taipei Main Station (45 mins)
Bus to Bitioujiao (~30 mins)
But you will likely wait a bit in between, so figure two hours transit each way, depending on where you live in Taipei...
Jiufen and Shifen are not worth your time if you have traveled Japan/China.
Not to be a huge butthole, but the point of going somewhere is to go somewhere you don't know about. Why don't you pick a place in Taiwan you have no knowledge of, learn some of the local language and just go there?
>but the point of going somewhere is to go somewhere you don't know about
Lmao ok kid
Moronic take. Id rather travel to places i already know abit about and appreciate things from, rather than the 75% of the world that is black or brown shitholes i really couldnt care to know about
>rather than the 75% of the world
Involuted. 内卷
The island really isn't as same-y as it looks on google. Taipei is as diverse and interesting as any megacity. Tainan has a Japanese colonial vibe. Kaohsiung is art-obsessed and trendy as frick while still being the favorite spot of expats. The other smaller cities are all pretty similar to each other though.
2 weeks is enough to see a few things in the big cities, see a national park, and zip down the east coast for some photo ops.
I guess there are 2 ways to travel and both are valid 🙂
OP here, thank you very much guys, I'll have a look on what you mentioned.
I'll assume you are not trolling.
I'm not rich, so my amount of holidays at work and my amount of money is limited, thus I think a little bit of researching might be useful. Call me crazy.
Trust me, if I was rich I would fly to any random place I saw and check it out in person.
27 days scheduled for the island
prices may be higher than the rest of SEA, whatever
cooler temps, but not for long
if the roads are orderly enough, I can rent a motorbike and ride into the mountains.
To me it looks like an interesting place to visit if I want the ease of buying stuff and touring (my friend who went to a work trip in Guangzhou experienced hell with cash and credit and mobile apps) without the mainland experience.
Been to Japan a couple of times but my next east Asia country of choice is Taiwan (over South Korea) because we don't require a VISA and it's not as cold.
any Taiwan anons feel free to prove that Taipei is in fact as affordable for a short-term visitor as its purported low COL
Which areas is good place to stay in Kaohsiung? Hotels or airbnb
If you want to be near the art district I can recommend a place called Gohome Homestay. The proprietess doesn't speak English unfortunately.
Whether or not you stay there, you must check out the hotdog place around the corner, it's great.
Weird how the mainstream news channels broadcast slow-motion cellphone videos of NSFW car crash gore 24/7. Do they do this in China too?
I drove a scooter in some of the smaller cities, yes it was sketchy but it wasn't any different than SEA or Arab countries.
Some of the pricing being listed here for short-term rental is amusingly inaccurate. 1000 AUD a month gets you a single bedroom furnished apartment. Not saying it's the fricking rtiz, but you could still find something at this price. $1700 USD a month would get me like a 3 bedroom apartment with parking spot. Just saw one listed for like 30 000 TWD / month
How are some of you getting so ripped off?
Where are you looking to find this? AirBnb is fricking insane prices.
FB groups or Taiwanese rental websites. Airbnb is technically illegal in Taiwan I think. Having said that, I have a stayed small furnished apartment in Daan district for like 1500 AUD a month on Airbnb. Either use a VPN or it's possible some of you here have western expectations for the size for Taiwanese apartments.
How the frick do you find an apartment near the Eastern District of Hsinchu?
I need to stay for about 4 months
I'd like to do Taiwan cycle route #1
how is weather at the end of December?
have you ever been for NYE in Taipei?
Anons who have been to Taipei, are there cheap $20/night hotels which are walk-in / cash only? Everything online is 3- or 4-star rooms for $50+ per night. I had to pay $22 for a shitty hostel bunk in the cheapest place in the whole city. Fricking sucks, I wasn't expecting Taiwan to be so overpriced.